GB2425049A

GB2425049A - An elongate flexible carrying aid

Info

Publication number: GB2425049A
Application number: GB0507667A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Basten
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-04-15
Filing date: 2005-04-15
Publication date: 2006-10-18
Anticipated expiration: 2025-04-15
Also published as: GB0507667D0; GB2425049B

Abstract

A carrying aid comprises a flexible planar elongate laminar body having a carrying portion 6 suitable for receiving at least one article 3 in the middle of the laminar body and at least two apertures 2 suitable for receiving the hand of a user at each end 4,5.

Description

Carrying device The field of this invention generally relates to devices

for aiding the manual lifting and transportation of one or more items. In particular, the invention relates to devices to aid in the carrying of one or more bulky objects, such as boxes.

It is commonplace for most retailers to provide paper or plastic carrier bags in which customers can carry purchased goods. However, both goods that are too large to fit in the provided bags and goods that have awkward dimensions will not satisfactorily fit in the provided bags, so are inconvenient for a customer to carry. Another problem is that, when a customer makes several purchases from one ore more retailers, the provided carrier bags are not resizable and the customer has to carry several carrier bags.

At some retail establishments, purchased goods that have awkward dimensions will fit into bags specially designed to accommodate those goods. For example, rolls of wallpaper might be provided with an elongated bag. However, in this situation, a customer buying the goods will then have to carry an awkwardly shaped bag. This can be inconvenient to the customer.

The provision, by a retailer, of several different types of bag will result in extra cost to the retailer. These costs can include the purchase of specially designed bags, the design and manufacture of specially designed bags and the storage and maintenance of stocks of the specially designed bags.

It is possible that the customer may provide his own bag or trolley to aid transport of heavy or bulky items. However, a retailer cannot rely on customers providing their own equipment to transport purchased goods, except in a few exceptional situations.

A purpose of the invention is, therefore, to overcome the above problems.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an aid for enabling a user to transport one or more objects, the aid comprising a flexible, substantially laminar body having at least one aperture at each of a first and a second end of the body, each aperture being suitable for receiving a hand of a user, and a carrying portion of the body disposed between said apertures; such that in use an item or items for transport can be placed on said carrying portion and said first and second ends brought together such that said canying device is operably disposed about said item or items for carriage and such that one of each said apertures at each of a first and a second end of the body can be used by the user of the device as handles.

An embodiment of the present invention is operable to provide a versatile carrying aid, suitable for carrying items being of a range of sizes that fit in conventional carrier bags, as well as for carrying awkward or larger items.

An embodiment of the present invention also provides a carrying aid of a simple design capable of being produced at low cost and high volume.

An embodiment of the present invention also provides a carrying aid that can be re- used, reducing the need for retailers to provide carrier bags, thus reducing waste, reducing the costs of providing the carrier bags, and potentially reducing environmental impact.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the claims, to which the reader is referred, and from a consideration of the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention and variations thereof, made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like reference symbols indicate the same or similar components.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a carrying aid in accordance with a specific embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a isometric view of the carrying aid illustrated in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of the carrying aid illustrated in Figure 1 with an item placed on the central portion of the carrying aid; Figure 4 is an isometric view of the carrying aid illustrated in Figure 1 with an item placed on the central portion of the carrying aid; Figure 5 is a isometric view of the carrying aid illustrated in Figure 1 configured for carrying an item placed on the central portion of the carrying aid.

With reference to Figures 1 to 5, a specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a carrying aid I is formed from a thin rectangular sheet, which is made from a flexible plastics material. The carrying aid 1 has four congruent rectangular through-apertures 2, spaced evenly from each other, provided at a first end portion 4 and a second end portion 5 of the carrying aid 1. The sets of apertures 2 are separated by the central portion 6 of the carrying aid 1 and each aperture 2 is bounded by the material of the carrying aid 1. The apertures 2 are substantially longer than they are broad, as illustrated, thus enabling their use as carrying handles - each can receive the fingers of a human hand to enable gripping of the periphery of the aperture 2. The longitudinal direction of each aperture 2 is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the carrying aid 1 itself.

Referring to Figures 3, 4 and 5, the process for lifting an item will now be described.

The carrying aid 1 is placed on a flat surface, such as a shop counter or floor. An item 3 to be lifted is placed in the central portion 6 of the carrying aid 1, away from the end portions 4, 5 of the carrying aid 1 having the apertures 2, as shown in Figures 3 and 4.

The two end portions 4, 5 of the carrying aid 1, not covered by the item 3, are raised and are brought together above the item 3 as shown in Figure 5. This causes the carrying aid 1 to contact the sides of the item 3. The two end portions 4, 5 of the carrying aid 1 correspond when the two end portions 4, 5 are brought into contact together such that the apertures 2 located at either end portion 4, 5 of the carrying aid I meet to form one or more handles, depending on the size of the item 3. If the item 3 is large, then the pair of outermost apertures 2, at the outermost end of the end portions 4, 5 of the carrying aid 1, may be the only usable handles. In contrast, if the item 3 is small, then all four pairs of apertures 2 will be usable handles. If the configuration of carrying aid I for carrying item 3, described above, needs to be maintained without a person canying the configuration, the two end portions 4, 5 of the carrying aid 1 can be secured together, for example with glue or tape.

The handles, provided by the apertures 2, can now be used to lift the item 3. The carrying aid 1 will support the item 3 from underneath and will also support two of the sides of the item 3. The remaining two sides of the item 3 are unsupported, allowing flexibility as to the size of item 3.

It will be evident to the reader that use of the device does not depend on corresponding apertures 2 being used together - unmatched pairs of apertures 2 could be used equally well.

The carrying aid 1 can carry multiple items 3, and is configured in a similar way to the configuration for carrying a single item 3 as described above. The carrying aid 1 is placed on a flat surface and the end portions 4, 5 of the carrying aid 1 are separated. The one or more additional items are placed alongside, or on top of, the one or more items already on the central portion 6 of the carrying aid I. The end portions 4, 5 of the carrying aid 1 are then brought together again to enable a person to carry the carrying aid 1.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, each end portion 4, 5 of the carrying aid 1 is only provided with one rectangular aperture 2, seen in Figures 1 to 5 as the outermost rectangular aperture 2 of the above embodiment. Thus, only one handle is fomied when the two end portions 4, 5 of the carrying aid 1 are brought together around an item 3. It will be understood by the skilled person that the present invention can be provided using any number of apertures 2 at the end portions 4, 5 of the carrying aid 1.

It will be understood by the skilled person that, when producing the carrying aid 1 according to any of the embodiments described above, a large variety of materials can be used and more than one material can be used. For example, the central portion 6 of the carrying aid 1 can be produced from a elastic material while the end portions 4, 5 can be produced from a more rigid material such as a reinforced plastic or cardboard.

A specific embodiment and several potential modifications have been described above.

However, it is not intended that the invention be limited to these embodiments. Various modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The features of the above described arrangements may be combined in various ways to provide similar advantages in alternative arrangements.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A canying device for enabling the carriage of one or more

items, comprising: a flexible substantially laminar body having defined therein: a plurality of apertures at first and second ends of the body, each being suitable for receiving a hand of a user, and a carrying portion of the body disposed between said two pluralities of apertures; such that in use an item or items for carriage can be placed on said carrying portion and said first and second ends brought together such that said carrying device is operably disposed about said item or items for carriage and such that one of each said pluralities of apertures are then offered for use as handles.
2. A device according to claim 1, wherein said pluralities of apertures are congruent rectangular apertures.
3. A device according to claim 2, wherein said apertures are substantially longer than they are broad.
4. A device according to any one of claims ito 3, wherein a longitudinal direction of each said aperture is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the said support portion.
5. A device substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to Figures 1 to 5.